Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State
Four months after the personal phone number of Governor Ifeanyi
Ugwuanyi of Enugu State was hacked, the fraudsters have devised another
means.
This time, Daily Post has gathered that some unknown government
officials were now forging the Governor’s official letter head as well
as his signature and using same to get people employed into some of the
parastatals in the State’s civil service.
It could be recalled that in March this year, the Chief press
Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Uwakwe Abugu, had in a statement
disclosed that, “this afternoon, March 2, 2016, the Airtel cell
phone number of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Governor of
Enugu State, was hacked by unknown persons for suspected fraudulent
activities.
“This announcement is to, hereby, draw the attention of members
of the public, especially those who have been reached or contacted by
the suspected fraudsters and to urge them to totally disregard any
communication extended to them through that cell phone number purporting
to have emanated from His Excellency, the Governor.”
Two weeks after, Abugu issued another statement alerting members of
the public that the fraudsters have hacked and cloned the Facebook
account of Governor Ugwuanyi.
His words: “Regrettably, the attention of the governor, has
again, been drawn to yet another phase of suspected fraudulent
activities, this time, in the social media, where Facebook accounts have
been opened with the name and photograph of the governor, perhaps, with
the aim of defrauding unsuspecting members of the public.
“This urgent announcement is, therefore, to alert and urge
members of the public not to fall prey to the antics and possible
nefarious activities of these suspected fraudsters. All official
business dealings with the Enugu State government and the governor
should be transacted through the Government House, Enugu, and not
through any social media platform.
“The governor, however, appreciates the genuine support and
goodwill of the various groups and supporters, who have remained
steadfast in supporting him as he serves the good people of Enugu State
with the fear of God.”
However, few days ago, reports emerged that fraudsters, who are
suspected to be in the government circles, are now getting people
employed in the State’s civil service using faked Governor’s letter head
and signature.
A source told DAILY POST that the activities of the syndicate came
to limelight following an alarm raised by a staff of the Enugu State
University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Teaching Hospital, Parklane.
The source disclosed that several persons had already being
employed in the hospital using the forged document, adding that the
syndicate would have been exposed a long time ago but for the
uncooperative attitude of the Chief Medical Director of the Hospital,
Dr. Gabriel E. Njeze.
According to him, “this has been going on for a long time now;
the admin officerat the Parklane has severally protested against this
but the CMD remained adamant.
“The admin on several occasions raised the alarm, asking the
CMD to investigate the letter but he refused; the letters kept coming
and he kept forcing the admin to issue them employment letters and to
create staff files for them.
“It was expected that when such letter comes, the CMD would
through the Secretary to the State Government find out if the letter was
genuine, but this he never did. It this raised suspicion that he may
know much about it.
“This continued until some members of staff could not bear the
situation; they had to alert the Governor and he was really so much
embarrassed over the development.”
Meanwhile, the source further told Daily Post that the enraged
Governor Ugwuanyi, upon receiving the information, headed straight to
the Parklane, where he lashed out on the CMD.
He further stated that the Governor, who felt so much disappointed
with the attitude of the CMD, had vowed to ensure that all those
involved in the scam were brought to book.
Several efforts made by our correspondent to obtain reaction from
the CMD proved abortive. He was called severally on Friday but he didn’t
pick the call.
This text message was later sent to him: “Good evening, we are
doing a report on the alleged employment of some workers at the Parklane
using fake Governor’s letter. We need a reaction from your office
please.” He didn’t respond to the message.
On Monday, our correspondent called his mobile line again. When he
eventually picked, he admitted receiving the text message and then asked
“hope I have the right to say I don’t want that report.”
Our correspondent told him that he had the right to make comment or
not, but that he had no such right to stop the report. He insisted he
was not going to make any comment, maintaining that “the matter is very sensitive.”
The State Government is yet to make official statement on the
matter, but a source disclosed that the development has created fear in
government circles, as there are indications that so many other people
may have been employed in such manner in other agencies and parastatals.
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